The Battle of Rangiriri Pa

by James Graham

The battle of Rangiriri proved to be the most important battle
in the New Zealand Wars. The Maori incorporated many innovative
techniques into its construction in an unsuccessful attempt to halt the British advance.

Rangiriri while uncompleted was still a formidable position when
the British attacked it on 20 November 1863. The Maori did however
have time to complete the pa's critical defences before the attack.
These were the main trench 1000 yards long and a substantial parapet
running parallel to the trench and a further trench behind the parapet.
The trenches stretched from the Waikato River to Lake Waikare and
were too wide to cross without planks. Maori bunkers were also present
throughout Rangiriri. The key to the whole position was a central
redoubt towering 21 feet above the bottom of the ditch. This redoubt
was relatively small and so incorporated into the defences that
General Cameron made the comment that "the strength of this work
was not known before the attack as its profile could not be seen
from the river or from the ground in front." The important point
here is though the central redoubt was 21 feet high it was only
10 feet above ground level with the ditch making up the remaining
height. The parapet around the redoubt was also of significant strength
and was of significant width. Additional rifle pits were constructed
to block a force landed from the river and to strengthen the left
of the Maori position. The unfinished defences to the south of Rangiriri
consisted of rifle pits which as can be seen in the top plan were
quite isolated from the main works. Rangiriri was designed by its
supervising engineer Te Wharepu a chief of the Waikato tribe and
to him the innovations can be credited.

The battle of Rangiriri occurred just three weeks after the Meremere
army had broken up. The garrison defending it as such was small
numbering only 500 warriors. In the battle the Maori had to abandon
the works on the river side of the central redoubt and focus their
resistance around the redoubt itself. From the redoubt the Maori
repelled no less than eight British attacks. In the night the main
body of defenders evacuated the pa with most of the important chiefs
and the wounded. The British subsequently captured the pa and took
prisoner its occupants through what James Belich describes as abuse of a flag of war.

The Maori fared far better than the British in the actual fighting.
The British lost 130 men killed or wounded while the Maori forced
suffered around 50 killed and wounded. It was however the 180 prisoners
captured which hurt the King Movement the most and gave the victory
of Rangiriri to the British.

Rangiriri is proof that innovative Maori fortifications were not
enough on their own to assure the Maori of victory over British
forces. The Maori were out numbered by three to one and it was this
factor that ultimately lost the engagement for the Maori. The Maori
left was a heavily fortified position but there simply were not
enough warriors to pull the triggers when it was attacked. They
were instead concentrated on repelling a series of attacks on the
central redoubt. Maori reinforcements were on their way to Rangiriri
and some even arrived the day after the battle. With another 500
warriors the Maori could have easily defended Rangiriri but ultimately
their tribal economy could not afford to lose so much manpower so
soon after the heavy concentration at Meremere. Rangiriri delayed
the British advance only momentarily and the King's capital Ngaruawahia
was occupied only weeks after the battle. In all the British captured
thirty miles of Kingite territory before their own supply problems
brought their advance to a sudden halt.

Rangiriri through skilful engineering was made into a strong defensive
line which physically blocked the British advance. It was however
not enough to prevent the relentless British army marching deeper
into the Waikato. In the end the Maori population was not large
enough and its social organisation to stretched to comprehensively defeat a professional army.